I wake in the morning to see a peacefully sleeping Bucky. Last night wasn't awkward at all, if anything, it helped start the healing process. I pull the covers back and get out of bed, tucking the covers against Bucky softly. I walk out into the main part of the warehouse to see Fury, Romanoff, and Dane all talking to one another in hushed voices. Dane notices my presence and glares at me before focusing back on the conversation. I feel out of place but have no where else to go. Agent Romanoff sees me and clears her throat, disrupting the conversation. Fury stops talking and turns his attention to me.
"Averina, good morning. Please, join our conversation." Fury invites me over. I stand between him and Romanoff, not feeling comfortable around Dane after the way he looked at me. I cross my arms and concentrate on the conversation, trying to bring myself up to speed.
"As I was saying, Stark called and told me the tower will be ready for us in a day. Lay low and stay out of trouble. We're still figuring out who infiltrated yesterday, but we have a feeling we know who it was." Fury sternly nods. Romanoff walks away followed by Fury, leaving Dane and I alone.
"What's your problem?" I ask Dane, cutting right to the chase. He looks taken aback and defensive.
"What's my problem? Oh, I don't know. Maybe it's the fact that a mentally unstable super soldier almost killed you and then you shared a bed with him? But I don't know, maybe I'm overreacting." Dane spouts off. I raise my eyebrows as I say,
"Okay I get where you're coming from but Bucky and I have come to an agreement. And, just so you know, his mental stability is just fine. He withstood the invasion without relapsing. He's fine." I say in an attempt to explain things to Dane, who is less than receptive to any idea that deals with Bucky and I.
"Oh, and agreement. I see. Is this like the agreement we had? You sleep with him and then he protects you? It looks like a pattern is developing. But what happens when he snaps and tries to kill you again? What then Adalyn?" Dane yells at me, getting in my face. I stand up straighter and push him away from me.
"You're a fucking asshole, Dane. You don't know anything about what happened with us, what we've been through. So don't act like you understand. And if you think I'm just some shallow bitch who looks for every opportunity to get laid, then I guess you don't know me that well after all. Get the fuck out of my face." I brush past him, heading towards Bucky's room. Dane harshly grabs my arm and forces me to look at him. Dane has never treated me like this and I'm terrified, but I can't let him know that.
"Let my arm go right now." I quietly, yet menacingly say. He cracks a smile and looks like he's trying not to laugh.
"Or what? What are you going to do to me, Adalyn?" He has a look in his eye I've only seen in one other person. I don't know who I'm talking to anymore. The fear surges through my veins and I don't know what's going to happen.
"What are you going to do to me, Dane?" I ask, keeping my tone neutral for fear he's going to hurt me if I say something the wrong way.
"Yeah, what are you going to do to her?" Bucky's voice emanates from the doorway behind me. Dane glares at Bucky before releasing my arm. I immediately grab the tender spot as Dane storms out of the warehouse. Bucky rushes over to me, examining my arm.
"I'm fine." I say, trying to bring my arm back to my side. Bucky shakes his head, but lets my arm go.
"Adalyn this isn't fine. We have to show Fury. He's not right in the head." Bucky says. I know he's right, but I don't want to report Dane. Even though he did just assault me, he's also protected me for years.
"I'll think about it." I say, knowing I'm going to let it slide this time. Bucky sighs, but doesn't push things any further. I look at the red skin, seeing the malice Dane left behind. Bucky walks back into his room, leaving me alone.
Looking around, I quickly realize that I have no clothes to change into, only the Shield uniform I was issued. I walk around trying to find Romanoff or Fury who might have an answer. I peek into a room and see Romanoff sitting on the bed. I knock before opening the door the rest of the way. She looks at me expectantly.
"Agent Romanoff, is there any place to get a fresh change of clothes?" I ask and she smiles warmly.
"Call me Natasha, or Nat, either is fine with me. And I have some clothes for both you and Bucky. I managed to grab some before we left New York." She stands up and grabs the clothes. I grab them and she notices the red mark on my arm. She furrows her eyebrows and asks,
"What happened?" She speaks quietly.
"Nothing." I lie, trying to protect Dane. However, she was not satisfied with my answer.
"Tell me, Adalyn." She says, her voice sounding like she's trying to persuade me. Knowing I won't be able to leave the room until I tell her, I confess,
"Dane kinda went off the deep end this morning." I whisper. Her eyes grow wide and she nods.
"Don't worry, I'll take care of it. Go enjoy your day with Bucky. It sounds like the both of you could use some relaxation." She says and gives me a pat on the back. I gratefully nod and walk out of the room to give Bucky his new clothes. I knock on the door and open it, hoping he's not fully nude or something. Luckily, he's just shirtless and sitting on the bed, not doing much of anything.
"Natasha gave us some new clothes. Put them on and then we're going out to do something." I say and put the clothes beside him. He smiles softly and nods, grabbing the black colored shirt. I close the door behind me and go look for an open room. I go to Fury's master bedroom and shower quickly before changing. I hope Bucky showered too, it's been about a day or two and I don't want him to be smelly for our day out.
Once I'm finished getting ready, I walk out and hope Bucky's ready. I walk into the main area and see he's sitting on the couch, looking bored out of his mind.
"You ready?" I ask and he nods eagerly. We're almost blinded by the bright sunlight, but I'm happy to be outside nonetheless.
"What do you have planned?" He asks and I smirk.
"I was thinking the Smithsonian." I say. I've never been to a museum before and figure what better time to visit one than in the nation's capitol. He nods happily and we start walking towards the city. I pull out a phone that Nat had tucked into my new clothes and search for the museum. The phone says it's only four miles away, so the walk won't be bad.
The closer we got to the museum, the busier the city got. Everyone was brushing past one another and I was scared I was going to lose Bucky in the crowd, seeing as how I'm below average height. As if he read my mind, Bucky guided me in front of him, so that we won't lose each other. I want to get to the museum as fast as possible, knowing Bucky's probably burning up in his long sleeved black shirt.
"We're almost there." I say up to him and he nods, looking out at the crowd. Once we reach the steps, we stop in awe and look at the entrance.
"This is spectacular." Bucky says as I nod, walking up the concrete steps to the entrance. He opens the door for me, and I thank him. We walk in and take in the atmosphere. The ceilings are high, the floors shiny and clean. I look up at Bucky and we begin walking through the museum looking at some random exhibits. There were planes strung from the ceiling, and they seem to hold Bucky's attention the most.
We begin to walk to the next room when something catches my eye. I hold my hand up and point, looking to Bucky to see if he sees it too. His jaw clenches, and I can tell he's having mixed emotions. He looks as if he's feeling something between curiosity and anger.
"Do you want to go in there?" I ask him, not wanting to do something that will make him uncomfortable. He looks down at me and nods. We walk side by side into the large room. Sounds fill my ears as I look around in astonishment. There's an entire room dedicated to Steve Rogers. And to think when I first met him I thought he was some no name agent.
"A symbol to the nation, a hero to the world. The story of Captain America is one of honor, bravery, and sacrifice." A voice speaks as we walk into the room and past a mural on the wall of Steve in uniform. We walk slowly to take in every detail. As we walk towards the next exhibit the voice speaks again,
"Denied enlistment due to poor health, Steven Rogers was chosen for a unique program. One that would transform him into the worlds first super soldier." We walk past plaques that displayed the before and after effects of the super soldier serum. Bucky really wasn't the first like I had been led to believe. In the before picture, Steve looked scrawny and unhealthy, and in the after, he looks identical to when I last saw him a few days ago.
Bucky stops in front of the pictures, smiling to himself. I stop next to him and wait for him to talk.
"You know he used to picks fights with people ten times his size, and he used to shove newspapers in his shoes." He laughed quietly so he didn't bring attention to himself. I remember Bucky saying something about the newspapers back in New York, when they first reunited.
"It seems like he's still picking fights." I smile at Bucky who seems to be handling this better than he first was. He nodded, agreeing with me. Bucky takes one last look at the plaque before we move on, letting other people get a chance to look around.
The next big exhibit was Steve's old motorcycle with black and white videos playing of Steve in battle during the second World War. The videos showed Steve ordering people around, he looked like he was in his element. He loved war, it was obvious. Bucky watches the videos over as I walk around, looking at some of the other things. A quote on a wall read, 'Captain America saved over 163 lives in Italy'. I trace my fingers over the lettering before walking back to Bucky, who was staring at the biggest exhibit yet.
"Battle tested, Captain America and his Howling Commandos quickly earned their stripes. Their mission was to take down Hydra, the heightened Nazi rogue science division." Bucky and I make our way to the front of the crowd who were all gawking at the uniforms on display. Both Bucky and I are drawn to his in particular. We stand in front of it, Bucky staring at his old uniform for minutes on end. Though the sign says not to touch the display, Bucky reaches his hand out and touches the fabric of his old coat. The narration replays every thirty seconds or so, drilling the word Hydra deeper into my mind. As more and more people crowd around, we walk to the end of the exhibit.
There was a glass memorial with Bucky's face etched onto it with the dates 1917-1944. I stop in my tracks, not knowing if I can emotionally handle this exhibit.
"Come on, it'll be okay." Bucky says to me as he guides me towards the memorial.
"Best friends since childhood, Bucky Barnes and Steven Rogers were inseparable on both schoolyard and battlefield. Barnes is the only Howling Commando to give his life in service of his country." The narration ends, leaving me looking over the memorial. Tears well in my eyes as I spot an old black and white video of Bucky and Steve. They're laughing and having a good time. I stand in front of the screen watching Bucky laugh over and over again, gun in hand.
I wipe my eyes of tears, seeing people give me weird looks. I try to blink them away, but they continue to fall. I see Bucky beside me in my peripheral vision, and pull him into a hug.
"I'm so sorry." I apologize, aware my tears are slighting dampening his shirt. He wraps his arms around me tightly and whispers in my ear,
"Don't blame yourself, it's in the past. It's okay, I forgive you." He pulls out of the hug and looks into my eyes. I know we agreed to leave Hydra in the past, I can't do that when the old Bucky is laughing with Steve, allowing me to see the life I stole.
"Let's go." I say, not feeling like I can handle anything else. Bucky nods and leads me through the room, abruptly stopping in front of a small theater. He lightly pushes me into the room, and we stand in the back as some dark haired British lady talks about Steve.
"That's Peggy Carter." Bucky whispers into my ear and I nod, remembering the name from yesterday.
"She was beautiful." I comment. I watch her ruby red lips talk about how Steve saved hundreds of men, her future husband included. I can tell it pains her to talk about Steve, and it's obvious they both loved each other deeply. I've put a lot of pieces together about Steve's past and how Bucky fit into his life. They were brothers, just like Steve had told me.
I nudge Bucky, signaling that I want to leave. We duck out of the theater and make our way towards the exit of the room. I wipe my eyes one last time, ridding them of rogue tears. Bucky leads me to the exit where we make our way back to the warehouse.
"I didn't know that there was even an exhibit like that." Bucky says as we walk down the sidewalk, the sun starting to set on the horizon.
"I didn't either. Did it help you remember anything?" I ask, curious to see if the experience affected his memory. He nodded and looked straight ahead.
"Yeah, I remember the first day I saw Steve on the battlefield. It was the first time I had seen him since the transformation and I didn't know what to think. I was captured by Hydra, the first time, and he had saved me." He says and I nod. I didn't know he was captured twice by Hydra.
"You were captured twice?" I ask, trying to get as much information as possible. As I'm finding out, I don't know him as well as I thought I did.
"Yeah, Steve saved me the first time, and then the second time I fell off of the train." He recalls.
"I'm sorry Bucky. You didn't deserve any of it." I say, knowing full well he's going to nicely tell me to shut up. He's probably tired of me apologizing, but I feel it's the least I can do with our agreement and whatnot. Instead of saying anything, he grabs my hand and sighs. The action catches me off guard, but I go along with it.
We continue the walk back in a comfortable silence. I keep thinking of our agreement and how hard it is for me to accept. How can he just forgive me for the evil things I did to him? I don't think I'll ever understand how he can be so kind to me.